Contents

Biography

Early life

Sometime early in his life, Cadmus fell in love with a woman, and the two were engaged to be married. However, she died before this union could take place.[5] Despite his fiancée dying, Cadmus was able to father an heir; whether it was with this woman — and she died in or after childbirth — or with another woman, is unknown.

Meeting Death

Death grants Cadmus with the stone

In the The Tale of the Three Brothers, Cadmus was walking along a lonely, winding road one night with his two brothers. The trio reached a river too wide to cross under normal means, and conjured a bridge to cross it. At this, Death appeared before them, angry that they had so easily crossed a river that many usually die crossing. However, he pretended to be impressed, and offered each brother a gift. Cadmus, seeking to further humiliate Death, requested a stone that would have the power to bring the dead back to life, which Death provided for him.[5]

An alternative and more logical version of this story proposed by Albus Dumbledore is that Cadmus was merely a very skilled wizard who had created the Resurrection Stone himself.[4]

Using the Stone and death

His lost love and death

However the Stone was created, Cadmus returned to his home with it and used it to revive his dead lover. However, he soon found she had not been truly revived; she appeared sad and cold, and he felt as if a veil still separated them. Driven mad with longing, Cadmus committed suicide so as to truly be reunited with his lost love.[5]

Post-mortem

Cadmus apparently fostered an heir before his death, as the Gaunt family were direct descendants of Cadmus.

Personality and traits

According to Beedle the Bard, Cadmus was arrogant, as when offered a gift by Death, he chose an object that he believed would further humiliate Death. He was also incredibly devoted to his fiancée even after she died, as he tried to use the Resurrection Stone to bring her back to life, and eventually killed himself to be with her.

It is possible that Cadmus' true personality are nobler than his depiction in the tale. The spirits summoned by the Resurrection Stone capable of protecting its users from Dark creatures' influence such as Dementors. And, the living are able to draw comfort and strength from the spirits of their loved ones, in Harry's case when facing Voldemort. Furthermore, the symbols of his brothers' specific creation (the Elder Wand and the Cloak of Invisibility) along his own are etched into the stone, meaning that he has respects for his brothers and their work.

Magical abilities and skills

Transfiguration: Cadmus, along with his two brothers, was capable of creating a long and stable bridge out of thin air. This is Conjuration and is a very difficult branch of magic.

Owner of the Resurrection Stone: Cadmus was the first owner of the Resurrection Stone which would later become one of the famous Deathly Hallows. Cadmus used the stone effectively but was overly dependent of it, letting its powers bring about his own death.

Magical manufacturer (possibly): It is uncertain if Cadmus actually obtained the Resurrection Stone from Death. Albus Dumbledore believed it was more likely that Cadmus and his brothers created the three Hallows themselves.

Behind the scenes

Concept art of Cadmus

The Gaunt family claimed to be descended from both the Peverell family and the Slytherin family; it is probable that the two bloodlines intermarried in a later generation.

The House of Gaunt are direct descendants of Cadmus Peverell, so it is certain that Cadmus had at least one child in his lifetime. It is not specified if the woman he intended to marry was the mother, or if Cadmus had fathered children from a previous or later relationship. However, as Albus Dumbledore believed that, in reality, the Deathly Hallows had not been gifts from Death but rather inventions of the Peverells themselves. Given that there are no mean for Beedle to know of what really happened, it is assumed that the account of Cadmus' death was simply fictionalised Beedle.

The fan theory that Cadmus made the resurrection stone is supported by how in The Tale of the Three Brothers, Cadmus knew to turn the stone thrice in hand for it to work despite Death never telling him how to use it.

There is also a fan hypothesis that Cadmus created the Veil in his mission to bring his fiancée back, but only succeeded in creating an unpassable pathway between the living and dead.

Etymology

The name Cadmus may have been taken from the legendary ancient Greek Cadmus, founder of the city of Thebes. In the myth, he marries the minor goddess Harmonia, the daughter of Ares. Harmonia later comes into possession of a beautiful necklace, but this item in truth is cursed and causes great pain among Cadmus's descendants (a possible allegory for the Resurrection Stone, the cause of Cadmus Peverell's death as well as the object of a curse many years later) or to the Opal Necklace in Borgin and Burkes. For more on Harmonia, see [1].

↑ 3.03.1Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 22 (The Deathly Hallows) - "The only place I’ve managed to find the name ‘Peverell’ is Nature’s Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy. I borrowed it from Kreacher,” she explained as Ron raised his eyebrows. “It lists the pure-blood families that are now extinct in the male line. Apparently the Peverells were one of the earliest families to vanish.”"